


Stay for a little longer

by idk_ilike5sos



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Hurt Liam Dunbar, Liam Dunbar Loves Theo Raeken, M/M, Oblivious Liam Dunbar, Oblivious Theo Raeken, Theo Raeken is Liam Dunbar's Anchor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idk_ilike5sos/pseuds/idk_ilike5sos
Summary: Based after The Ghost Riders and Mr. Douglas were defeated, Theo tells Liam that he'll no longer be staying in the guest bedroom of his house. And Liam is surprised by the burden of his true emotions towards it...-Or, my interpretation on how Theo left after 6a
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Hayden Romero, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Stay for a little longer

**Author's Note:**

> ♡ beta read ♡  
> Enjoy... :)

"Is that everything?" Liam asked from the doorway as he watched Theo zip up a duffel bag.

"Yeah." He nodded and placed the strap on his shoulder.

With the Ghost Riders gone there was no longer any reason to keep Theo around. He'd been staying in the guest bedroom at Liam's house - which he'd very much begrudgingly given up; Scott really didn't hesitate to throw the whole _"he's my responsibility"_ thing in his face.

The night Douglas was defeated Theo had told Liam he would be packing when they got home, but Liam found his stomach turning at the idea. He wasn't sure why, but he insisted that Theo stayed at least another night. So he did.

But only one, because Liam woke up early the next morning to faint footsteps around the house. He'd gotten out of bed when remembering the promise Theo had made only a few hours prior and almost ran into him in the hallway.

_"Jesus, slow down," Theo laughed quietly._

_"Could say the same to you," He replied with an edge of frustration. Theo's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't need to leave so early, the sun's barely up."_

So he didn't. Liam made sure he didn't fall asleep again until he could hear that Theo had.

When he woke up again it was midday and he'd completely forgotten about the morning: until he went downstairs and Theo was thanking his parents for allowing him to stay.

_"No problem, kid, you can stay whenever you need," His stepdad gave a firm shake to his shoulder. Liam heard Theo's heart spike for a split second._

_"Yeah, thanks."_

_"Well, it's already pretty late, so you should probably just stay for dinner." Liam couldn't hold back, when he entered the kitchen._

It took a lot more convincing, but eventually he caved. But after dinner he didn't waste any time to pack his stuff - which didn't happen to be a lot.

"You don't need any more of my clothes?" Liam offered.

"After the fifty hoodies you just gave me?" He raised his eyebrows with a smirk. "I think I'm good."

"What about money? I don't need it, you can have everything I've got left from last month." Liam picked up a job for some days after school and every other Saturday. He didn't necessarily need money, but he found himself enjoying wasting his time on things that weren't super natural induced.

"Liam, I'll be fine." Which was the problem. All he would ever be would be _just_ fine, at best. He wouldn't be able to be happy or excited or in love. He would spend the rest of his life _just_ surviving, and that would be on good days. Liam couldn't bring himself to consider the bad ones.

"Maybe." He shrugged.

At the front door, Liam watched whilst Theo said his final goodbyes to his parents.

This was really it, he was leaving. In only a matter of seconds he would never see him again and there was nothing he could do about it. But it didn't make sense why he cared so much. He hated Theo… _Right?_

"And please tell your mom that we're sorry for keeping you so long," Liam's mom said with a hand on her heart. Theo stiffened and his heart doubled its pace.

"Uh, yeah, I will," He gulped.

"C'mon, you should get going." Liam put a hand on Theo's back and started pushing him out the door before things got a chance to escalate.

When outside, Liam closed the door behind himself. It'd stopped raining only a minute prior and the sharp air still smelled damp.

Unaware of what would happen next, Liam held his breath - he half expected to be punched, half expected Theo to walk away without another word. But they just stared at each other with blank, pale faces. And he could swear it looked like Theo was about to cry, and he knew he did too.

"I'm sorry." Liam felt the urge to look away from Theo's pained expression, but ignored it.

Theo nodded slowly, then peered over his shoulder at his truck before back to Liam. "It's fine."

Yeah, _just fine_. Over the course of the day Liam had learned to resent the word. It's stupid and only used to mask the truth. _Fine_ : another way of saying _"I'll live"_. What if he didn't want Theo to _just live_ : he wanted Theo to _be alive_! Why was beyond him, but it didn't matter anymore, anyway. He'd lost without being given the chance to fight; Theo was leaving.

"Yeah," He scoffed as the tears in his eyes came closer to spilling.

Another moment passed without anything spoken, then Theo turned and walked to his truck.

"Better not see you around Beacon Hills anymore," Liam joked, trying to find humour in the ache.

"Don't worry," Theo turned around with a smug grin when reaching his truck at the end of the lawn, "already found the quickest route outta this shit hole of a town."

Liam's mouth became dry, "Seriously?"

"Yep." He opened the door and stepped his first foot in.

Suddenly, he had a strange glow about him that Liam had never really seen before. It was almost happy. Maybe Theo would be more than fine without him, or maybe he was just lying - he couldn't tell.

"Oh, well, good luck." He forced, then found himself laughing, "Wonder who's going to be saving my ass now."

"You've got family, friends, _a girlfriend_ ," For some reason, the last one stood out the most. Sounding, somehow, unnatural all of a sudden. "They'll be here."

Theo got in his truck and closed the door, the slam echoing in Liam's ears for abnormally long and turning itself into an alarm. He almost thought he'd wake up from the nightmare he was forced into.

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Liam scoffed to himself, forgetting that Theo could still hear him.

Not caring for the wet concrete, he sat down on the step at the front door and stared at the ground. He sighed as he watched droplets of water fall off stems of grass. For a split second, it was calming.

"What is?" Theo asked with his arms crossed on the steering wheel.

Liam didn't expect a reply, he didn't expect a chance to open up to him: even if just a little. "Saying goodbye."

Theo's jaw dropped open momentarily, but he nodded rather than saying anything more. He understood; confessing things you don't understand yourself is hard. Impossible, even.

Liam had lost count of how many times they'd become willing to let silence take over, but they'd finally reached the last. He took a deep breath in as a cold numbness entered his body and his eyes dried. "Promise me you'll be okay."

"I can't-"

"Lie."

His eyebrows creased and he took a few hesitant breaths, "I promise."

And with that Theo started the truck. Liam wanted to get up and stop him before he pulled away from the curb, but decided otherwise. Theo would be better off out of Beacon Hills; better off without him. He'd be getting a second chance, it's the least he deserved.

As he reversed into the middle of the road, Liam noticed Theo not allowing his eyes to leave the thin line of the horizon. The sky was a deep blue and there were no stars in sight. Empty - like someone had painted the sky, but forgot to add them. Or like they'd gouged out the voided color that overtook Liam's heart more with each passing second - more with each inch further Theo got - and splattered it across the night. Like a taunt.

Everything moved in slow motion. All Liam could do was watch as Theo bit his bottom lip and frown at the road ahead of him. His tongue darted across his lip and he sucked in a breath, then started to create distance from the house. From Liam.

Liam watched the truck reach the end of the road and turn into the next street, out of sight.

It felt like he sat there, waiting for _something_ , for hours when in reality it was at most five minutes.

When he got back inside his mother noticed the glum expression he couldn't wipe. "It's not that bad, you'll see him Monday at school."

"Yeah," He bit his tongue.

Saved from any opportunity of exposing the supernatural (and Theo's past) to his mother, he was grateful when his phone started to ring. But when he saw Hayden's contact he considered spilling anyway.

Though as a good boyfriend would, he answered the call and headed upstairs.

"Liam," She said and he could tell she'd been crying, "I'm leaving."

"You're what?" He frowned.

"My sister- she's not safe here," She sniffled. "I have to leave. For her… I'm sorry."

It took a minute to process. First Theo, his- his… _ally?_ Whatever he was, he was gone, but now Hayden too?

So why did it feel like he was forcing himself to care? Like he was more irritated by the inconvenience than the inevitable end to their relationship. Sure, he'd miss her, a lot. He loved her. But Theo had left him numb. It didn't make any sense. He was supposed to be happy about Theo being gone and miserable about Hayden, but it was almost the opposite.

"Liam?"

"Yeah… yeah. So where are you moving to?" He didn't have the capability to be upset in the moment, so he tried his best to be supportive.

They spoke for an hour, though Liam's mind was elsewhere. Every now and then he would try to catch a scent or focus his hearing, but it was no use.

Theo was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> God, I really keep hitting you guys with the sad endings, huh? 😅
> 
> Well, kind of a sad ending, because it's purposely prior 6b - which means Theo does eventually come back... I might make a part two to this, but I probably won't tbh.  
> If you like, you can pretend this is the prequel to my fic "If only they kissed" (I can't remember how well it lines up, but oh well).
> 
> I really enjoy putting my interpretations into (more or less) actual events, so let me know if you want more of them. :)
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed! Kudos, comments, subscriptions and bookmarks are al very appreciated! And I'll see you next time :) 🖤


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